My Past Life is Riddled With Many Sins - Chapter 54
Imagine a mother’s shock upon receiving a sudden letter from her daughter saying she would withdraw from the academy. It would surely pull at her heart, absorbing all the worries of the world.
Regina vividly recalled the joy on her parents, Melissa and Henry’s faces when she passed the entrance exams.
‘Just hanging on until graduation… could ruin my life. No, that won’t do.’
With resolve, Regina mailed her letter and headed to the Mary Library to gather information about the demon world. Yet, frustratingly, no new information emerged despite 200 years having passed since Yekarna’s death. Nothing had changed.
‘I should have written a will warning about the demon world before dying.’
That might have kept the descendants a bit more vigilant and prevented this mess.
“Is there only one option left?”
Regina pulled her hood deep over her face to hide her identity and navigated the changed streets, remembering the way from 200 years ago.
“It should be around here.”
Regina stroked her chin as she looked at a fruit shop. She decided to enter, figuring she had nothing to lose.
“What fruit are you looking for?”
A middle-aged woman by the stall rose to greet her warmly and asked.
“I’m actually looking for something else, not fruit.”
“If you’re looking for something else, not fruit in a fruit shop…..”
A look of bafflement swept over the woman’s face. Regina felt a moment of panic, wondering if she’d mistaken the location, but the penetrating gaze of the woman reassured her she was right.
Those were the eyes of someone who knew information.
“To those who come here looking for a fruit shop, it’s just a fruit shop. But for others, it’s something else.”
After hearing Regina’s response, the woman’s expression cleared.
“What you’re looking for is inside. Follow me, please.”
After locking the shop door, the woman moved a counter to reveal a passage leading downwards.
“We’ll need to blindfold you for security reasons. Please don’t take offense.”
“I don’t mind being blindfolded, but I’d prefer to keep my identity hidden as well.”
“For those who prefer anonymity, we have masks available. You can wear one under the blindfold.”
The middle-aged woman replied, skillfully producing a mask from somewhere. Once Regina had turned around to put it on and signaled she was ready, the woman approached to fit her with the blindfold.
“Please hold my hand so I can guide you.”
Regina complied without objection.
‘Just like when I was here as Yekarna.’
Back then, Yekarna had also navigated this labyrinth, going up, down, and sideways for what felt like an hour. These shops are interconnected like a web. This was an element that could make a guess of their power
‘If they’re going to operate illegally on someone else’s land, they could at least pay taxes.’
She grumbled inside.
“You may remove your blindfold now.”
Relieved, Regina took off the stuffy blindfold. She had arrived at what could be called the garbage dump of information, known as the underworld. A place where she could find information even libraries didn’t have.
Yekarna had been quite curious. Enough to visit the underworld information guild in disguise. Fortunately, her knowledge of how to make contact was still applicable today, and she was grateful.
She thought that the location hadn’t changed. But after all, the capital hasn’t moved. The Imperial Palace stayed as it is, so why would the meeting place of the information guild be.
“You can wait here for a moment.”
The middle-aged woman told her, setting Regina on a chair before disappearing somewhere. Left alone, Regina casually looked at the surroundings.
The interior was as well-appointed as a noble family’s salon, stylish and refined. There was no need for the information guild of the underworld to look gloomy, but its normalcy felt odd. Someone unfamiliar with this place wouldn’t realize they were in the infamous underworld information guild.
‘It somewhat resembles the salon from my princess days.’
Regina thought, feeling a hint of déjà vu in the arrangement of objects around the room.
As she was tilting her head, pondering the familiar setting, the woman re-entered through a different door than the one she had exited through.
“I will take you to the Master now. Please follow me. “
Guided into a secret room, Regina was greeted by a crystal ball.
“Didn’t you say you’d take me to the master?”
– Hello, customer.
A voice emanated from the crystal ball as she muttered skeptically. The voice, altered by some magical device, made the gender and age hard to discern.
Regina chuckled, sat down, crossed her legs, and folded her arms.
‘Is this how we’re communicating now?’
She thought, reminiscing about how 200 years ago, people used to show their faces and talk in person. It seemed that caution had increased over the generations.
– What information do you need?
“I need information about the demon realm, excluding anything that can be found publicly or in libraries. Don’t give me anything that could be found in a book somewhere; I won’t consider it.”
– Of course. We are not students here to submit book reports.
The master replied with a playful tone.
Regina touched her mask to make sure it was securely on. Though she had just exchanged a few words through the crystal ball and knew nothing about the person on the other side, her instincts warned her that this was no trivial individual.
– However, customer, while we ourselves are not exactly law-abiding citizens, given the nature of your question, I must ask. You aren’t planning to summon devilkins to make a contract or do something that could endanger the continent, are you? If that were the case, it could provoke a major investigation by the temple, and that would be troublesome for us.”
Regina scowled at the absurd question.
“What do you take me for?”
– With that mask on, what are we supposed to see?
Regina was taken aback by the response. Indeed, this was no ordinary person.